The pick up
by fairyglitter101
Summary: When Lucy gets a flat tire miles from the nearest town in the middle of the night, she feels her best chance is to accept the invitation of a ride into town on a motorcycle from a pink haired man. Nalu
**Fairy Tail Fanfic**

 _Disclaimer: The idea belongs to Theboy_Brandon who gave me his consent to write this. The idea was that Lucy has a car break down and Natsu picks her up. I hope you like the way I envisioned it all … it's a little different than you would expect._

 **ONE-SHOT: The pick up.**

"This shitty car!" Lucy growled, pulling over to the side of the road in what had to be the most excluded area on the planet. And of all things it could be, it was a flat tire. And she had no spare. In fact, this was her spare.

Inspecting the damage, Lucy knew, deep down, that she was fucked. She knew how text book horror her situation was already. Pretty blonde girl out in the open, miles away from the closest town. Flat tire. It also just happened to be night time and she had no mobile service.

This was how the horror movies started.

And it was always the cute girls that went first.

It was well past midnight and the University student was driving from her parents place after celebrating her mother's birthday with both her parents, because there was no way in in hell she was going to miss it. Even if she had a test in seven hours.

There were no signs of life around. No hum of a car on the road or sounds to resonate over the mountains. Not a house. Not anything. And as it had just set into winter. Not wanting to waste warmth, she grabbed a blanket from the boot of the car for what was often used for watching her University football team, she set for what was going to be one of the most uncomfortable sleeps she had ever had in her life in the back seat.

It _was_ uncomfortable. She was crampy with no real way to stretch out, and her feet were temporarily on the window to give a little more freedom to her body. The cold nagged her when she just started to drift off each time. She had read somewhere that the cold made it easier for you to sleep.

Utter lie!

Lucy Heartfilia was not one to fall asleep to the gentle stabbing of stiff winds and white puffs of air. She needed heat. Her family often joked she was a cat. The amount of times they had found her camped in front of a fireplace, dangerously close to the open fire while asleep was terrifying.

The writer hadn't realised she had fallen asleep until there was a sharp knock on the fogged covered window. Stifling a scream, thousands of Creepypasta stories came flooding to her. Was it just her imagination or was there someone out there?

 _Tap! Tap! Tap!_

Not her imagination. Leaning forward, thankful she had locked the car doors, she whipped a smear of the fog away.

There was light. A headlight. But there was one. It was a motorcycle and silhouetted in front of it was a man, who was leaning towards the window grinning.

This time a shriek did escape.

The man chuckled. "Easy there." The sound of the voice indicated it was man her own age. "I notice you had a flat. Do you need a lift?"

This was a life defining moment. She could converse with him and become another victim that those cheesy movies were always killing off, or, she could stay in her and pretend he was a ghost. A fake person … like he wasn't really here …. Yeah, that could work.

"Miss, are you okay?" Looking through the clear crack of the window he spied her huddled form on the other side of the car.

That totally didn't make him seem creepier.

"I'm alright!" She called.

There was a small pause, "Do you realise how cold it is out here?"

It was a good minus something. Frankly, she was glad to still have her toes.

She had a flat tire. Her phone was almost flat now. And a few hours left before the exam.

Taking a bite of courage she leaned back over to the other side of the car and whipped a good amount of fog away. He was her age. With wild pink hair and void black eyes.

Her mouther would have described them as Onyx or amber. But to Lucy, who was nearing her wits end with stress, added the creepy factor onto him.

"How far away is the town?"

"Are you in a rush to get anywhere?" he countered, standing up straight, peering down at her. "If you're not I could just go into town and call for someone to get you. A tow track or something. It's a black spot out here with phones though, you get nothing."

"I need to get into town fast. I need a lift." The words slipped out of her mouth before she could stop them.

The length that University pushed you to. If Lucy could get to a town with service, call a tow track, send the bill to her parents, and then drive back in time to make it to her Exam … everything would be cookies and cream.

But, if she stayed here where she was and wait until morning for some poor sucker to come along and pick her up from a hitch-hike, she didn't know how long she would be waiting. And walking to town wasn't a problem (once it was daylight), it was just the realistic fear of being snatched and locked in some basement somewhere that held her back. But that could also happen from Hitch-hiking.

So maybe, just maybe, being on the back of the motorcycle where Lucy could at least strangle him if he tried anything - a man her own age – she felt just slightly safer.

All for the sake of a freaking Exam no less.

"Sure no problem." He stepped back to his bike, and Lucy used the time to grab her phone and wrap the blanket around her tighter. Seeing the sight of her emerging from the car, looking like she was wearing a Scottish toga. The man chuckled.

"I'm Natsu if you're wondering."

"I'm Lucy." Looking to meet his eyes. He seemed … nice. His demeanour wasn't threatening and sensed no current danger.

"I don't have a spare helmet with me, so, you can use mine. I have some googles I can use." Lucy wasn't going to argue.

Natsu sat on his bike and turned to look at her, "Do you want to get on first if it makes it easier?"

Lucy shook her and slid on after him, gingerly wrapping her arms around his waist. It didn't feel so much as weird, but, more prudent to do so. A necessary act.

Kicking the bike to start, he shot forward, which forced Lucy to hold on tighter. The road windy with turns, nothing major or anything, but the speed Natsu was going had to be exceeding the road limits.

It hadn't taken long for the sight of a town to come into sight for them, and when it did, Lucy let out a long sigh of relief.

Entering the town, Natsu eased on the speed limit, and stopped in front of a small twenty-four hour coffee which had their sleep deprived college students running it.

"You don't seem to be around here," Natsu started, steading the blonde in her restricted movement blanket, "I can just tell."

Giving a thankful smile when she got off, "Is it that obvious?"

"Nahh. But this is my hometown, and it's kinda small so I know most of the people here already. And I definitely would have noticed if you live here."

Was that a compliment? Well, the blush was coming anyway.

The café was bright and smelled of hot chocolate. Pulling out her phone, Lucy searched for the local mechanic shop, and when finding it, placed a call. It rang through.

Natsu raised an eyebrow, "It's still early and most will still be closed. Here, let me call." He extended his arm, and without thinking Lucy placed her phone in it.

Walking into the café together they sat at the counter where a silver haired waiter was standing behind. She raised her head to give the classic customer welcome but seeing her childhood friend Natsu, her smile turned more genuine. "Natsu!" she said cheerily.

Natsu grinned back in greeting and then pointed to the phone at his ear. Getting the hint, the waiter turned to look at the woman sitting next to him.

"Ahhh, friend of Natsu's?"

Shaking her head, "I have a flat tire and he offered me a lift into town to get help."

Eyebrows disappearing almost into her hair line, "You rode on that _thing_?" Disbelief in her features.

Lucy could only guess that that thing was his motorcycle. "Yeah?"

The waiter continued to stare at the stranger in disbelief. And when that got awkward, she spoke again. "Natsu …" he was also sitting right next to the blonde in a conversation with a mechanic on the phone, "usually gets motion sickness unless he's on the damn bike. And when he gets on that thing he gets crazy."

Sure Natsu had been going a little too fast on the road, but otherwise he seemed completely at ease and in control. "He didn't seem that crazy."

Disconnecting the call, Natsu turned to give a beaming smile to the blonde. "There is someone coming right now to fix your flat tire."

"Yes! Thank you!" the urge to hug him was there regardless of the waitress just said. "I really can't thank you enough!"

His smile turned sheepish, "Well, you could buy me a coffee."

That was more than reasonable and it wasn't like the blonde was short on money. Buying them both coffee's and a small platter of pancakes, they ate while waiting for the mechanic to turn up.

"So, you're a university student?"

Swallowing down some pancakes, "Yeah, in Magnolia."

"What are you doing?"

"I'm majoring in English and Art. I would like to say I want to be a journalist, but truthfully, I just want to sit at home all day and write novels."

He raised his eyebrows, and turned back to finishing the last of his coffee. "What about you?" Lucy asked out of silence.

"I'm working as a trainee in carpentry. I got out of school early for an apprenticeship." Lucy could see it. He was built and had muscle from plenty of manual labour, unlike herself.

It was easy to fall into conversation with him, he was easy going. When the Tow trucked turned up with her car and a new tire already fixed on, Lucy was a little sad to leave, but she didn't show it.

Standing up together, Natsu looked at her curiously. "Well, I hope I see you around." It wasn't just politeness he said it with, there was genuine truth in it to.

Lucy looked up at him and smiled, "Hopefully not because of a flat tire this time." Walking out of the café, Lucy felt the urge to say something. Something interesting, but no words came to mind. But her own mind was on a secret mission without her knowing, something that would completely mortify her with her own bluntness, "Could I have your number?"

He blinked once. Twice. Thrice. "Yeah. Sure." Looking a little embarrassed but also secretly pleased he rattled off the number.

"Thanks." Looking away, the driver popped out of his car. Lucy got the bill sent to her parents, and with an understanding text she was sure they would pay for it, she turned back to her saviour from the cold. "Well, thanks again."

"No problem." The silence filtered into what can be described as awkward. When the car was unattached, the girl jumped into it familiar seats and put the heater on. Natsu came to stand beside her window to wave her off. How nice.

Putting the car in reverse, the woman stopped at the sound of a tap on the window from Natsu, who was looking a little sheepish. Rolling down the window a giddy feeling swept inside her.

"Give me a call when you're in town next, maybe, I don't know if you want to, but if you would like, I could take you to see a movie or even the local planetarium here, you said you were into stars and stuff right?"

 _Kill me now!_ He thought hopefully.

Pink crept into her pale cheeks, "Like, like a date?"

"I guess so, or as just two people … in the same building, following each other around." _God, if you are real. Take my life where I stand!_

Pushing stray blonde hairs out of her eyes, a giggle slipped past her lips. "I would like that."

And she meant it.

Driving away on a happy note, and promise of a date for when she returned, she was glad she got on the back of that motorcycle with Natsu.


End file.
